The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-15

and keep His commandments, by natural
reaction they go and join those very
churches 1 could mention the names of
prominent ministers of the Gospel who
spent their whole life bombarding other
denominations and who lived to see their
children preach the Gospel in those very
denominations But it is often the case that
bigotry starts in a household, and that the
subject of 1T never RECEIVERS. There are tens
of thousands of bigots ten years old.
think sectarianism and bigotry also rise
from too great prominence of any one de-
nomination in community. All the other
denominations are wrong, and his denomi-
nation is right because his denomination is
the most wealthy, or the most popular, or
the most influential, and it is 'odr" church,
and 'our" religious organization, and "our"
choir and ''ourn minister, and the man
toSses his head, and wants other denomina-
tions to know their places. 1t is great
deal better in any community when the
great denominations of Christians are
about equal in power, marching side by side
for the worlds conquest. Mere outside
prosperity, mere worldly power, is no evi-
dence that tho church is acceptable to God.
Better a barn with Christ in the manger
than a cathedral with magnificent harmonies
rolling through the long drawn aisle, and
an angel from heaven in the pulpit, if there
be no Christ in the cancel, and no Christ in
ble ToDeS. DlSoIIy 10 oIueh tuo Culu Vi
ignorance.
You seldom find man with large intel
lect, who is bigot. It is the man who
thinks he knows a great deal but does not.
That man is almost always a bigot. The
whole tendency of education and cviliza-
tion is to bring man out of that kind of
state of mind and heart There was in the
far east great obelisk and one side of the
obelisk was white, another side of the obe-
81, was n cly
was blue, and travellers went and looked at
that obelisk, but they did not walk around
it. One man looked at one side, another at
another side, and they came home each one
looking only at one side; and they happened
to meet, the story says, and they got into
a rank quarrel about the color of that obe-
lisk. One man said it was white, another
man said it was green, another man said it
was blue, and when they were in the very
heat of the controversy a more intelligent
traveller came and said: "Gentlemen, / have
seen that obelislS, and you are all right, and
you are all wrong Why didn't you walk
around the obeliskw
Look out for the man who sees only one
side of religious truth. Look out for the
man who never walks around about these
great theories of God, and eternity, and the
dead. He will be bigot inevitably-the
man who only sees one side. There is no
man more to be pitied than he who has in
his head just one idea-no more, no less.
More light, less sectarianism. There is
nothing that will so soon kill bigotry as sun
shine-Gods sunshine.
2. So / have set before you what | con
slider to be the cause of bigotry. ] have set
before you the origin of this great evil.
What are some of the baleful effects! First
of all it cripples investigation You are
wrong and | am right, and that ends it.
No taste for exploration, no spirit of inves-
tigation. From the glorious realm of Gods
truth, over which an archangel might fly
from eternity to eternity and not reach the
limit, the man shuts himself out and dies, a
blind mole under a corn shock. II stops all
investigation
While each denomination of Christians is
to present all the truths of the Bible, it
seems to me that God has given to each de
nomination an especial mission to give par
ticular emphasis to some one doctrine; and
so the Calvinistic churches must present
the sovereignty of God, and the Arminian
churches must present mans free agency,
and the Episcopal churches must present
the Importance of order and solemn cere-
mony, and the Baptist churches must pre-
sent the necessity of ordinances, and the
Congregational church must present the re-
sponsibility of the individual member, and
the Methodist church must show what holy
enthusiasm, hearty congregational singing
CdIl dECOHlDllSU. w Dllb EACH utJlDiIlUdDlOH
of Christians must set forth all the doc
trines of the Bible, | feel it is especially in
cumbent upon each denomination to put
particular emphasis on some one doctrine.
Another great damage done by the sec
tarianisln and bigotry of the church is that
it disgusts people with the Christian re-
ligion. Now my friends, the church of God
was never intended for a war barrack. Peo-
pie are afraid of riot. You go down the
street and YOU see an excitement, and mis-
siles flying through the air, and you hear
the shock of firearms. Do you, the peaceful
and industrious citizens 20 through that
street! Oh, no. you will say, "1'll 20 around
the block" Now, men come and look upon
this narrow path to heaven, and sometimes
see the ecclesiastical brickbats flying every
whittier, and they say, "Well, guess I'll
take the broad road if it is so rough, and
there is so much sharp shooting on the mar
row road, guess III try the broad road"
Francis ]. so hated the Lutherans that be
said if he thought there was one drop of
Lutheran blood in his veins he would pune
ture them and let that drop out. just as
long as there is so much hostility between
denomination and denomination, or between
one professed Christian and another, or be-
tween one church and another, just so long
men will be Disguised with the Christian re-
ligion, and say, If that is religion, want
none of it,"
Again bigotry and sectarianism do great
damage in the fact that they hinder the
triumph of the Gospel. Oh, how much
wasted ammunition, how many men of
splendid intellect have given their whole
life to controversial disputes when, ii they
had given their life TO something practical,
they might have been vastly useful! Sup
pose this morning, while ! speak, there were
common enemy coming up the bay
through the Narrows, and all the forts
aronnd New York began to fire into each
other-you would cry out, National sui
cidel why don't those forts blaze away in
one direction and that against the common
enemyN And yet sometimes see in the
church of of the Lord Jesus Christ a strange
thing going on: church against church,
minister against minister, denomination
against denomination, firing away into
their own fort or the fort which ought to
he on the same side instead OF concentrat-
ing their energy and giving one mighty and
everlasting volley against the navies of
darkness riding up through the bay
go out sometimes in the summer, and l
find two beehives, and these two hives are
in quarrel. | come near enough, not to be
stung but ] come just near enough 20 hear
the controversy, and one beehive says,
THAT field OF clover is the sweetest p and
another beehive says, THAT field of clover
il the sweetest" | come in between them.
and / say, "Stop this quarrel; IL you like
that field Of clover best, go there: if you
like that field of clover best, go there; but
let me tell you that that hive which gets the